Are we sure he was trying to park? The elderly have been trying to take out younger folk all the time and this was at a children's hospital after all. Also, he did just missed getting a woman walking by.

That Camry looks old enough to have a direct accelerator cable and not an electronic fly-by-wire type setup. Probably poorly maintained. That's assuming he's telling the truth and didn't actually fat-foot the wrong pedal instead.

Anyway, there's a reason you don't need to press the button on the shifter handle in that car to move it from "D" to "N" when the engine starts racing uncontrollably. Just slap it forward and bam, you're in neutral, and THEN you steer to safety and THEN shut off the ignition. And it says ALL of this in the friggin' owner's manual.

If you're not ready to react to an equipment failure in your vehicle, you're not ready to be behind the wheel, regardless of your age.

Anyway, there's a reason you don't need to press the button on the shifter handle in that car to move it from "D" to "N" when the engine starts racing uncontrollably. Just slap it forward and bam, you're in neutral, and THEN you steer to safety and THEN shut off the ignition. And it says ALL of this in the friggin' owner's manual.

If you're not ready to react to an equipment failure in your vehicle, you're not ready to be behind the wheel, regardless of your age.

The way this usually works is they think they're already stomping on the brakes, so when the car takes off flying, their inclination is to stomp on the brakes more. And keep flooring the accelerator.

Brain seizes up when thinks its doing the right thing, then despite evidence to contrary keeps doing it.

I never understood why "oriental" is offensive and you have to use "Asian". India, Pakistan, even part of Russia is in Asia. Why do they get to co-opt the whole continent?

Somebody missed out on the 1990s. Asian replaced Ornamental as the preferred way to talk about those nutty cultures that grew up never driving a car properly or learning what side of the road was preferred.

The irony of this accident was you just know he probably normally drove 15 miles per hour under the speed limit. And probably down the center or left lane.

wee:I lived in SD for many years, and those years I lived there lead me to wonder if "elderly" was the only factor at work here.

I lived in Claremont (a San Diego neighborhood) when all the boat people arrived. True, for a couple years the sight of a Vietnamese driving was cause for terror. But they got better. Much better. Now they're as good, or as bad, as everybody else. That is to say, they're all a lot worse driver than I am.

CSB. I was 20 and in electronics class the first day of college, circa 1980, maybe 5 minutes before class (e.g. no teacher yet). A vietnamese guy was there. A white guy turned around and pulled the ends of his eyes up. The Vietnamese dude looked at him, put his fingers on the outside edges of his eyes, and pulled them down.

I never understood why "oriental" is offensive and you have to use "Asian". India, Pakistan, even part of Russia is in Asia. Why do they get to co-opt the whole continent?

It is offensive in it shows your ignorance of proper usage, that's all. It reflects upon you, not others. Goods or items may be referred to as Oriental. Peoples from a given area are Asian or area specific. On the overall people who have the benefit of education lean towards using terms that are 'politically correct'. It is a sign of respect towards others to address them in a manner which they deem acceptable.

I too treasure my old round two-sided metal multiple Checker games in one adorned with terribly stereotypical artwork of buck-toothed Chinamen pulling rickshaws and wearing traditional garb. And I miss Dean Martin crooning about Chinky Chinky Chinamen. And bartenders that would marvel at your new novelty cigarette lighter and exclaim "Damn clever, those Orientals!" Fight it as we may, times change.

I never understood why "oriental" is offensive and you have to use "Asian". India, Pakistan, even part of Russia is in Asia. Why do they get to co-opt the whole continent?

It is offensive in it shows your ignorance of proper usage, that's all. It reflects upon you, not others. Goods or items may be referred to as Oriental. Peoples from a given area are Asian or area specific. On the overall people who have the benefit of education lean towards using terms that are 'politically correct'. It is a sign of respect towards others to address them in a manner which they deem acceptable.

I too treasure my old round two-sided metal multiple Checker games in one adorned with terribly stereotypical artwork of buck-toothed Chinamen pulling rickshaws and wearing traditional garb. And I miss Dean Martin crooning about Chinky Chinky Chinamen. And bartenders that would marvel at your new novelty cigarette lighter and exclaim "Damn clever, those Orientals!" Fight it as we may, times change.

Generation_D:The way this usually works is they think they're already stomping on the brakes, so when the car takes off flying, their inclination is to stomp on the brakes more. And keep flooring the accelerator.

Brain seizes up when thinks its doing the right thing, then despite evidence to contrary keeps doing it.

Yup. There are two patterns noted with runaway cars--it goes up with the age of the driver and with a driver that isn't familiar with the car.

I never understood why "oriental" is offensive and you have to use "Asian". India, Pakistan, even part of Russia is in Asia. Why do they get to co-opt the whole continent?

It is offensive in it shows your ignorance of proper usage, that's all. It reflects upon you, not others. Goods or items may be referred to as Oriental. Peoples from a given area are Asian or area specific. On the overall people who have the benefit of education lean towards using terms that are 'politically correct'. It is a sign of respect towards others to address them in a manner which they deem acceptable.

I too treasure my old round two-sided metal multiple Checker games in one adorned with terribly stereotypical artwork of buck-toothed Chinamen pulling rickshaws and wearing traditional garb. And I miss Dean Martin crooning about Chinky Chinky Chinamen. And bartenders that would marvel at your new novelty cigarette lighter and exclaim "Damn clever, those Orientals!" Fight it as we may, times change.

Snotnose:wee: I lived in SD for many years, and those years I lived there lead me to wonder if "elderly" was the only factor at work here.

I lived in Claremont (a San Diego neighborhood) when all the boat people arrived. True, for a couple years the sight of a Vietnamese driving was cause for terror. But they got better. Much better. Now they're as good, or as bad, as everybody else. That is to say, they're all a lot worse driver than I am.

CSB. I was 20 and in electronics class the first day of college, circa 1980, maybe 5 minutes before class (e.g. no teacher yet). A vietnamese guy was there. A white guy turned around and pulled the ends of his eyes up. The Vietnamese dude looked at him, put his fingers on the outside edges of his eyes, and pulled them down.

I never understood why "oriental" is offensive and you have to use "Asian". India, Pakistan, even part of Russia is in Asia. Why do they get to co-opt the whole continent?

In our family we call oldsters like this, "Toast". When they do stupid stuff like this, we call them "Burnt Toast"./Feel free to discuss//My84 year-old dad has a brand new Nissan X-Terra that he has already wrecked at 560 miles.///The next day he borrowed my Honda "I'm not what the heck that damn thing is" (that's what I call it - it could be a Civic) and he propmptly wrecked it. Thanks Dad!